Adelaide Bite has been renamed the Giants for the upcoming ABL season
Adelaide’s entry in the ABL will nod to its successful past by reverting to its former identity the Giants for the upcoming season and beyond.
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The Adelaide Giants are back.
South Australia’s entry in the ABL will revert to its former identity after being known as the Bite for the past nine years.
The club’s executive general manager Shane Smallacombe said the decision for the rename was a result of extensive research and discussion with fans.
“We really believe this is the perfect time to blend together the strong legacies of the Giants and the Bite, and to start a new chapter in our history,” Smallacombe said.
“Our conversations with fans made us think that the revival of the Giants brand was the right move. We spent a lot of time consulting with the SA baseball community and receiving their permission to reignite the Giants for the modern era.
“The mid-1990s was a successful time for baseball in South Australia, when the Giants regularly attracted crowds of upwards of 10,000 people to Norwood Oval.”
It is 30 years since the birth of the Giants in the inaugural ABL in 1989 when the club played in the historic first game against Perth Heat.
The Adelaide team played as the Giants until 1999 and when the competition was relaunched in 2010 it became the Bite.
After consulting fans, members and the broader SA baseball community about the rebrand, the overwhelming response was a desire to see the Giants name return to Australian baseball.
The Giants logo will embrace elements of the past logo and it is a contemporary version of the state colours of navy, red and gold.
Former Giants player and the club’s general manager Nathan Davison said he believed the new name is going to provide strong inspiration.
“If you talk to any past Giants player, they will tell you how intense it was to play for the team,” Davison said.
“If this strong name can return now and bring some of the motivation, ambition and loyalty we shared, then this current team is in a great place.”
The Giants open their attack on the 2019/20 season with a four-game series at their West Beach home against defending champion Brisbane from November 21.